Destiny
Years ago, when I was a small boy, a keywielder came by our little settlement up in the township of Destiny. He came with the wind, and left with it—but not before showing me his Keyblade and teaching me how it should be used.
"Only a person with a strong heart can wield one... And I see you've got a strong heart. But it takes more than just that do wield one right. There's a dark side to every power, you must always be cautious... Or you'll end up hurting the people you want to protect."
The way that man's eyes gazed off into the sunset as he spoke... I knew he'd hurt someone he loved in his past. Hurt someone bad. But I was a foolish boy then, all I saw was how amazing a Keyblade could be. I wanted to be just like that man.
He stayed a while and helped around the town, but a day came when he said he had to leave again before his past caught up with him. That night at dusk, he rode off into the sunset with the wind at his back. I never saw him again.
The year I turned fifteen, I spent my savings on my own horse and rode away in the same direction he had, eager to leave Destiny forever and become a keyweilder just like him. I made mistakes—a lot of mistakes—and came to better understand what that man had told me when I was young and innocent. It took me years to make up for the mistakes I made, but I learned my lessons even if I did so the hard way.
I became one of the wandering keywielders who wandered the wild west righting wrongs like that man once did along with my best friend Sora and mentor King Mickey. We met up from time to time, but mostly went off on our own. There were too few of us keywielders back then, and too many evil people in the world.
My mission was to hunt down the infamous band of outlaws known merely as the Thirteen. They were strange in the fact that they'd always advertize their hand in affairs, yet vanish in the night without leaving a trail to their whereabouts. But I'd promised myself I'd hunt down their leader if it was the last thing I ever did—while I still blamed myself for my actions in the past, he had been the one to misguide me in the first place. He'd pay for that one day.
You can imagine my surprise, I'm sure, when the town I was staying in was attacked by a dark-cloaked figure in the night claiming to be with the Thirteen. I couldn't believe my luck—for once, it seemed something was actually going my way.
When I caught the figure that night out on the plains, though, I no longer considered myself so lucky. They drew a Keyblade on me—a Keyblade in the hands of an outlaw? That was a dangerous new development, one I couldn't let slide. I knocked them down with my bare hands—not wanting to let them know what I was—and threw back their hood to get a good look at them.
What I saw absolutely threw me off even more. She was a small woman, not much younger than me but frail looking—something I didn't fall for. My back still smarted where she'd kicked me in the scuffle.
"Who are you?" I asked her. I had profiles of all the members of the Thirteen—and a young woman like her wasn't among them.
"I am the fourteenth of the Thirteen. Their newest member—I just joined."
I shook my head at her, seeing the desperation in her eyes. I still didn't know what had inspired her to join them, but she didn't belong there. "Find a new crowd," I told her. "Trust me, those guys are bad news."
"It's not like I have a choice," she muttered, and I heard the resentment in her voice.
I shook my head, sitting down in the dust next to her. "You always have a choice."
She just glared at me with hurt and angry eyes. "How would you know?"
I summoned my Keyblade before her, a light in the darkness of the night. Her eyes widened in awe as she looks at it. "You have one too?"
I nodded, then spirited it away again. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my past—done a lot of things I'm not proud of. I don't want you to make the same mistakes, uh—" I stumbled awkwardly, realizing I didn't even know this girl's name.
She smiled for the first time since I'd met her, and my heart fluttered in my chest to see it. I couldn't believe how much of an effect she had on me. I guess I was just lucky it had probably been too dark for her to see how red my face had become.
"My name's Xion," she told me.
"Riku," I offered, holding out my hand as I stood up. She clasped it and I helped her to her feet.
"Well... Thank you, Riku."
"Don't mention it," I muttered. "You can come with me back to where I'm staying with my best friend Sora and the King if you like."
"Sora?" She asked, surpriesed. "You know him?"
"Yeah," I said, stunned. "What, you know him too?"
Xion shook her head. "No, but I know of him. I was... Looking for him when I found you."
"Oh," I said. "I see."
So the Thirteen were out to get my best friend. I filed that information away for later, deciding now was the time to help Xion, not worry about my friend. As it so happened, I was right in choosing to lead her back to Destiny with me—she proved to be a valiant and valuable companion in our struggle against the outlaws.
At the time, though, when I pulled her up beside me on my horse and set out into the night, all I could wonder was what I was going to do with this girl who some would still see as an outlaw. What they'd think of me, riding into town with a strange woman dressed in the black of the Thirteen. We made a strange pair, her and I.
She fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, long before the sun came up—but when the sun's rays finally peeked out over the horizon, I forgot all about the troubles we might have to face in the near future.
All I could think about then was how beautiful she looked in the first light of the dawn.
I knew in that moment that no matter what happened, Xion was my true Destiny.
...
End
Author: This was written for the "Wild, Wild West" contest at Rion-FC on deviantArt!
Yes, I alluded to "Shane" at the start with Riku playing the role of the kid and Terra, naturally, being Shane. And replaced "gunslingers" with "keywielders" to fit the Kingdom Hearts universe. Basically, if KH happened in the Wild West.
I kind of want Riku's horse to be called Destiny, too, but that's beside the point. XD
Enjoy the fluffy Western RikuShi! :D
And I know the ending is a little sappy, but as Riku puts it, I'm a total sap and proud of it!
For those who are following "Two Hearts," this is also the reason I didn't write a drabble today, but I'll write two tomorrow to make up for it. ^^